Morning commute. Good morning. Thank you for joining us. I am gene ramirez. And im gayle guyardo. Lets get you out the door on this friday morning with the tropics. Thats right. Early this morning around 2 00 a. M. , they put out a special advisory on Hurricane Matthew because it strengthened so much to a category two hurricane. The latest update came in less than 10 minutes ago at 5 00 a. M. And still 100 Miles Per Hour winds making it a category two hurricane but its expected to become a category three major hurricane through the weeken north early monday morning. Pushing through the eastern portion of cuba and into the bahamas. This is wednesday at 2 00 a. M. Still a category two hurricane. And yes, its expected to stay off floridas east coast. But its close enough to us that i will watch it closely including the fact that some of the computer models, all make it turn to the north but one, notice this line right here, pushing closer to floridas east coast, the majority of on. And keep in mind, even though we have passed the peak of hurricane season, we are still in the most active time period until the second or third week of october. And locally, also tracking other things off the water. Thats some rain. A couple thunderstorms in the western portions of hernando and citrus county. And we have showers off the pasco coast. And then some heavy downpours that continue to bradenton, over to Manatee County. In weather and traffic on the 8s, ill talk more about todays forecast hourbyhour. But leslee lacey has updates on the roadways this morning. Yeah, sad news with the fatal accident. Its in Hillsborough County. Lets take a look at the maps here. Right now, youve only got an eight minute delay. It used to be more like 20 minutes. So thats better. 275 is great. No issues there. And let me show you whats going on. You see where its red. Im going to zoom in. This is southbound 75 past fowler where we have a fatal pedestrian. Lets go to Meredyth Censullo live on the scene with the latest news. Reporter hi, there. Yes, youre right, theres no delay because right now no traffic being allowed through here. All traffic detoured southbound at fowler. As you mentioned, we will show you the Investigation Underway here. This call came in to florida Highway Patrol just about an hour and a half ago. We are involved accident at this point. We do not see a vehicle related to the pedestrian. We see another vehicle onscene being questioned sadly in this case. We do have florida Highway Patrol out here as well as Hillsborough CountySheriffs Office. We do not know how long this investigation will take but historically when we have a fatally like this, you can count on a couple hours so it will impact the morning commute. Again, traffic detoured off of southbound 75 at fowler. Or u. S. 301. And be sure to stay with leslee lacey for all of the detour routes as well as delays throughout the morning. All right. We will check back. Thank you so much, Meredyth Censullo. Right now, three bay area students are suspended after showing up at school dressed like members of the kk. Paul mueller shows us how a ryan hughes joins us now. And the School District only got involved because parents went to the media. Reporter gene, good morning to you. The parents say they are outraged by this and they say they contacted the principal here at Wiregrass High School and she claimed the issue was resolved. Their son texted again and said costumes. My reaction was how could the school board or the high school say that this is just merely pictures of kids in ghosts uniforms. To me, it felt like they were covering it up and they didnt want to address what is a huge issue. Reporter the parents contacted the press and then the superintendent of schools addressed the issue and explained how the students were suspended. Now this wasnt the at the high school. Another student was pictured wearing a Confederate Flag on his back. That student wasnt reprimanded because the school doesnt punish anyone for displaying any kind of flag on School Grounds no. Word if the rules or guidelines regarding costumes will be changed because of all this. Back to you. Okay, ryan hughes reporting live. Thank you, ryan. The woman tragically killed in the train crash in new jersey. She does have ties to florida and there are questions about the crash. The woman killed in the crash was identified. The 34yearold woman was a married mom of an 18monthold girl. She spent years in florida where she certained her mba. She obtained her mba. She is a native of brazil. She was on the platform when the train barreled into during rush hour. More than a hundred people were hurt. The man in control of the train. He has been a train engineer for nearly 30 years. So far, he has a clean record. We dont know the cause of it going too the fast. A system failure . Was it human error . Was it a medical emergency involving the engineer . In addition to talking to the engineer, the ntsb will be family, friends and teammates have said their final goodbyes to jose fernandez. Wearing his no. 16 on their jerseys and holding a first, eight teammates carried the coffin. The 23yearold was one of three People Killed monday morning when the boat crashed into a jetty sunday morning. Along with great sadness, theres anger and frustration over a heartless theft. Following a memorial for fernandez who was a star player at the school, someone stole one of his jerseys from the dugout. The School Posted on social media letting everyone know what happened. We are angry and upset. There was frustration. There was disgust. It ran the gamut. The school reported the the theft to the Sheriffs Office but more than catching the thief, what they really want is bank faced lauers on capitol hill for another day of grilling. Faced lawmakers on capitol hill for another day of grilling. 5300 people were fired. John stump and another executive forfeited millions in Stock Options but many lawmakers feel thats not enough. You have to also admit that criminal activity was going on in your bank and then you should be fired. You think today is tough . Its coming. When the prosecutors get ahold lot of fun. Wells fargo first addressed it as a problem that began in 2011 but last week extended the search for unauthorized accounts dating back to 2009 and 2010. Whats going on weather wise, leigh spann . This morning, still feeling the humid wind flow off the gulf of mexico. Its been with us all week long. No surprise, exactly how we felt yesterday including the from the gulf. They dont make it far inland. This is the one near sugar mills woods, off New Port Richey and pasco. A small amount of rain if pinellas. And some patchy rain in western Manatee County. I left in a 20 rain chance for you this morning. But thats mostly for the coastal areas. And then up to a 30 chance at noon when its 84. And a 40 chance through the afternoon and evening. We hit 88 degrees at 3 00 p. M. So its a 40 rain chance today. And i get to knock that down to and then back up to 40 sunday. And 50 on monday. These storms today start near the coast and then theyll be more scattered later today. Rain chances slightly better next week. And Hurricane Matthew expected to still remain off floridas east coast. And if that happen, it may bring us drier air next week. Im not ready to pull the trigger quite yet because we will watch where this ends up going. Lets check on traffic on the 8s. I know we have a lot going on. Southbound. All the southbound lanes have been blocked. No the delay, thank goodness. This is bruce b downs to i4. Earlier it was this the red. And thats because everyone is detoured off at fowler avenue and traffic has started to ease. Let me zoom in. This is the decision southbound just past fowler avenue. And a live look and you can see for yourself what is happening out there. We have a lot of activity. Of course, when theres a fatal crash, theres an investigation so it takes at least a couple hours for em up. So southbound 75 remains closed past fowler avenue. Obvious, a good detour for you, 301 because that is close to 75. Thats a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. Back to gene and gayle. All right, leslee lacey, thank you. We will check back. Ray jay is going to the dogs. Gs halloween fest. Puppies are getting ready for a tailwagging good time. A lot of rescue, to benefit Humane Society of pinellas. A good cause. A few pictures from last year. About 2,000 people showed up. There will be a national pet unit for vaccinations and imizations, a fire safety demonstration and you can even adopt a new fourlegged friend. I like that. She has a little boyfriend named buddy. She is a double adoption if someone adopts her. Thats right, when she goes, the boyfriend goes. We put the information on wfla. Com. Whatever makes her happy. The 2016 heart walk is right around the corner. News channel 8 committed to raising 100,000 but we need your help. Fuccillo kia is matching the first 50,000 we raise so every dollar you donate really counts as two. The heart walk is november 12th guyardo, stacie schaible, the whole gang. Go out and join us. Go to wfla. Com heartwalk. We go and walk and then have brunch. Beautiful. New drama in the ryan lochte theft case. What the olympians father proves that lochte is innocent. Plus, do you know how to spot someone having a seizure or stroke . Still ahead, how a tampa woman were back. In your vote, senator marco rubio is responding to reports that Donald Trumps company against cuba. Rubio calls the allegations troubling. A news week report found that trumps hotel and Casino Company secretly violated the embargo back in 1998 spending at least 68,000 there. Rubio told the miami herald that he will reserve judgment until we know all the facts and after trump responds. Officials may think that ryan lochte made up the story about being robbed in rio but innocent. He has won a dozen olympic medal, six of them gold but his recent accomplishments were overshadowed after accusations that lochte lied about a night. His father says theres a three minute video showing security guards with guns pointed at his son and proving he was robbed. Its been found. It shows that the security guards had guns pointed to my sons chest. And money was extracted. That but i know what i would call it. Im just trying to move on and move forward. And you know, now that im putting that all behind me. The u. S. Olympic committee has banned lochte from swimming for 10 months. Lochte was at the beach last night for a charity swim. Now an 8 on your side alert. F0 slurred speech, witnessing the effects of strokes and seizures can cause us to freeze or worse, pan and i can cause more harm than good. Thats why a tampa woman is on a mission to educate our community. I was laying on my parents bed. And watching tv. And the next thing i knew, i was laying on the floor. Reporter patty was diagnosed with epilepsy at 13 years old. More than the 40 years later, she still suffers from seizure, almost monthly. It brings all the air out of my body. And i just go like that. Reporter her husband jumps in to help in moments like these. But patty fears those with Neurological Disorders, if alone, can find themselves in trouble. And so can those surrounded by people who dont know how to react. The one thing you dont want to is put anything in their mouth. And we say, make the area safe. Get them to the ground. And just roll them on their side. The thought is that they wont choke. Reporter this neurologist he is one of several doctors helping patty create awareness about Neurological Disorders and stroke. The message, we all need to learn how to help and patient can have full lives, like patty, a married mom with a career and a cause. I have a beautiful family. I didnt let epilepsy stop me from living a great life. Well, patty put together a knewology awareness fair so neurology awareness fair. At Edgewater Park in downtown dunedin. Leigh spann has a check on the weather for us. Yeah, still watching a couple showers this morning. A few may be hearing thunder. Not a whole lot of lightning. Theres one around 19, right where citrus and hernando counties come together. Rain in sugar mill woods drifting toward thes the east. County. So thats why i left in the chance for the rain near the coast in the morning. East of 75, you will be dry. 84degrees at noon. And we see the Rain Coverage get better and up to a 40 chance at 4 00 p. M. When its 87 degrees. And temperatures right now, pretty mild actually. 77 in tampa. But 73 in bartow. And 72 in brooksville. And 75 in bradenton. And stalled cold front, oh, just so close to us but not getting cooler air. It keeps the onshore so the showers near the coast eventually get scattered everywhere, pushing into polk county and highlands later in the day. Tomorrow, this front is going to lift back to the north. And thats going to allow for a southeast wind. We will see the storms pushing towards us into the evening for saturday. About a 30 chance. And after that, of course, all eyes on Hurricane Matthew. Expected to become major Hurricane Matthew this weekend. And at this point, forecast to head into the bahamas by next slightly drier air for us. In the meantime, expect upper 80s and scattered downpours into next week. How is traffic on the 8s . Well, keeping an eye on this fatal crash on 75, folks. Southbound bruce b downs to i 4, about an 11 minute commute. And thats not too bad. And everyone is diverted off southbound because the lanes are closed past fowler avenue. And let me show you you on the maps. Thats because theres a lot of activity. Theres no backup becau and thats fine now because theres no significant backup. You dont have to exit at fletcher. 301 an excellent alternate because its near 75. Especially out of pasco county. Coming the other way, you can still take 75 and then on 275, that will bring you down quickly as well. Allow for extra and now you have to use street lights and surface roads and that takes longer when youre navigating around. Thats weather and traffic on amazon could have competition brewing online. How walmart is positioning itself to make a run at amazons big business. Youre watching news channel 8 in this mornings consumer watch, it looks like walmart is targeting amazon in online sales. They are in talks to make an worth 16 billion called flip cart. And walmart bought Online Shopping startup jet. Com for 3 billion. And there are plans to open up an online store for walmarts sams club warehouse. And more news from walmart this morning. Walmart is recalling more than 46,000 tripod stools that may cause you to fall. This recall involves macco stools. The plastic collars that hold the three legs. They can break. They were sold at walmart from june through august this year. You can return for a full refund. The centers for Disease Control concerned more kids will get the flu this year. Why their concerns are over the flu vaccine and what parents should do. Plus, former governor jeb bush talks about who he will vote for this november and who he wont. His answer might surprise you. Thats just ahead. We have your weather and traffic on the 8s with leigh spann and leslee lacey. Thats coming your way in three minutes. Its 5 28. Still watching this onshore flow. We do have spotty rain like up in western portion of citrus and hernando county. Heavier downpours in Manatee County and spotty in pinellas and pasco county. For the kids at the bus stop, coastal area, thats the only place you have the chance for areas. Inland areas dry, 77 degrees. And a good coverage of storms by the afternoon, 40 chance. And 30 rain chance tomorrow. How is traffic on the 8s . Well, starting to get slower here. Closer to where traffic gets busier but still early. Bruce b downs to i4, a 12 minute commute. We have an accident, a fatal crash involving a pedestrian past fowler avenue, they are onscene investigating and all of the southbound lanes are completely blocked. New this morning, Hurricane Matthew strengths to a powerful category two storm. Where the hurricane is heading. And new information on the deadly new jersey commuter train crash. A new mom with ties to florida is among the victims. Is former Florida Governor jeb bush turning on donald trump . Why some think he could be casting his ballot for another party this fall. F0 we are tracking breaking news. A deadly crash on 75 north of the i4 junction. Right now the southbound lanes of 75 are completely shut down. And just ahead, leslee lacey has the latest on how to get around this morning for your morning commute. Thank you for joining us on